Trump Fired Seattle’s New U.S. Attorney 54 Minutes After He Was Sworn In

Roger Rogoff showed up for work Wednesday morning as the new U.S. attorney for Western Washington. He was sworn in before 8 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Seattle. He walked over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and waited in the lobby to meet the outgoing interim prosecutor.
While he was standing there, an email arrived. The Trump administration was firing him.
The whole thing took 54 minutes.

What Happened

The 17 federal judges in the Western District of Washington — appointed by five different presidents — had unanimously selected Rogoff to fill a vacancy that had been open since February. Under federal law, judges have the authority to appoint a U.S. attorney when no Senate-confirmed nominee has been put forward. They exercised that authority Wednesday morning.
The Trump administration exercised its own authority 54 minutes later.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on social media: “District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them.”
Rogoff told reporters he knew this might happen. He said being U.S. attorney is “the best job there is” for a prosecutor and he had no regrets about walking into the conflict. He has retained a law firm and is now weighing legal options. “We have a situation that is untenable, not constitutional, and not legal,” he said.

Who Rogoff Is

Rogoff spent 20 years as a state prosecutor handling sexual assault and domestic violence cases, six years as a federal prosecutor focused on violent crime and gangs, and served as a King County Superior Court judge. He later worked as a lawyer for Microsoft and ran Washington state’s Office of Independent Investigations — the agency created to independently review police use of deadly force incidents.

This Has Happened Before

This is not the first time the Trump administration has fired a court-appointed prosecutor. In February, federal judges in the Northern District of New York appointed Donald Kinsella, a veteran litigator, to fill a similar vacancy. He was sworn in the same day and fired within hours.
In December, Alina Habba — Trump’s former personal attorney — resigned as U.S. attorney for New Jersey after an appeals court ruled she had been serving in the post unlawfully. In Virginia, Lindsey Halligan left after a court ruling and cases she had brought were dismissed.

The Political Fight

Senator Patty Murray of Washington blasted the firing. “This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent — they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda,” she said.
Washington Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh took the opposite view, calling the judges’ move “embarrassing” and “partisan politics.”
The Trump administration’s pick for the position — Charles Neil Floyd — remains in place as first assistant U.S. attorney, running the office even though his original interim term ended in February.
Rogoff is expected to sue.
Source: Seattle Times, NBC News, Bloomberg Law, Fox 13 Seattle, AP